As Australia reviews its ban on raw milk cheese – with the usual arguments about good and bad bacteria and artisinal crafsmanship — the Institute of Health in France reports that on Oct 1, 2012, six human cases of Lm infection with the AscI/ApaI PFGE pattern 210792-210792 over the previous 6 weeks were identified by the National reference center for Listeria. PFGE-typing using restriction enzyme SmaI identified 2 distinct profiles, D and Q.
On Oct 22, additional PFGE-matching cases were identified. An outbreak investigation was initiated to identify the source of contamination and guide public health actions. We defined a case as a Lm infection with a PCR-genoserogroup IVb and the PFGE AscI/ApaI 210792-210792 profile diagnosed in France between Aug 1, 2012 and Feb 11, 2013. SmaI Q-associated cases were considered epidemic whereas SmaI non-Q-associated cases were considered non-epidemic. Cases’ food consumption history was collected using a standard questionnaire. We conducted a case-case study, aiming at comparing the food consumption history of both epidemic and sporadic listeriosis cases identified during the same period, as well as traceback and traceforward investigations.
The implicated cheese factory was inspected. Food and environmental samples were collected.
Twenty-five cases were identified (11 epidemic cases). Dates of diagnosis ranged from Sep 4, 2012 to Nov 20, 2012. Consumption of raw milk brie cheese was significantly associated with the outbreak SmaI Q strain (Odds Ratio 35, IC95% [5-366]). Traceback and traceforward investigations identified Cheesemaker. A as the likely source of infection. Cheesemaker inspection did not identify any hygiene violation. Food and environmental samples did not yield the outbreak strain. A point-source contamination of the raw milk is suspected to have occurred.
(Thanks to Albert Amgar for forwarding the document.)
porn dinner:
"You don’t think about eating one piece of cheese and almost dying. That’s basically, what happened for both of us," said Stadler.
When I was pregnant with Sorenne in the summer of 2008, we spent a month in Canada while the Maple Leaf Listeria outbreak was, in retrospect, percolating in cold-cuts that were being consumed across the country. 
Doug wrote a book called 
The health ministry says
At our first prenatal visit, which at 8 weeks seemed very late, we finally got some food safety advice from the medical staff. Along with the typical list of foods to avoid (non-pasteurized cheeses, smoked salmon, etc.), the staff member told us if we do eat cold cuts, it is advisable to get them from the deli counter in the supermarket rather than buying the packaged ones from big companies. We were a bit surprised, as this was … exactly wrong advice. The risk of listeria from the deli section is generally higher because it’s difficult to clean the slicers and we do not know how often they are cleaned.